The essentials of writing for children - start with a character.

There is a huge variety of methods in which ‘ so they tell us ‘ writers get to work. Some say that they don’t write a single word until they’ve worked out the complete story beforehand. Others will have a vague idea of the outlines of their story and will ‘uncover’ its complexities as they write. Some writers begin with a character and encourage the storyline to expand around that character’s development. Some will start with an occurrence and then find that other events follow naturally; or they may have found a pattern which can be repeated, with variations, to compose a book of short stories.

Often, by looking at the finished product, we can tell which of these different processes was used by a particular author; but sometimes we have to rely on direct information from the author themselves. It seems likely that Richmal Crompton starting to write her first story about ‘William, A A Milne with Christopher Robin and Pooh and Dorothy Edwards with her ‘Naughty Little Sister’ stories were aware that they had found a formula for great stories which when varied, could be used time and again with great success.

The successful formula or recipe in each of these examples depends upon a central character whose main characteristics are central to any situation in which the author chooses to place him or her. William is the subversive schoolboy, manipulating his environment, when possible, to his own advantage; Pooh is a bear of very little brain, with a round stomach and a large heart; and the little sister’s behaviour goes against the rules of polite society. An additional bonus is that in Richmal Crompton’s and Dorothy Edwards’ books the naughty behaviour with which the child reader can easily identify, is shown as funny rather than unacceptable.

Sometimes the idea of a clearly defined character can bring about not repetitive incidents but in a long story with a beginning, a middle and an end. Frances Hodgson Burnett wrote: ‘‘. One day I had an idea. I will write a story about him, I said, I will put him in a world quite new to him and see what he will do.’ It was a good idea and, because she was already an experienced storyteller, Cedric Errol, the character based on her irresistible small son, gathers around him the other characters and happenings that make Little Lord Fauntleroy a fascinating, if now unfashionable read.

The above exerpt from Frances Burnett’s autobiography leads us to think that she was one of those authors who begin with a vague idea of the plot, but who have an idea of a situation which requires development. Without knowing exactly how the story ends, the author must have considered Sara Crewe, the warm-hearted young rich girl who is suddenly reduced to extreme poverty, but behaves throughout like ‘A Little Princess’ or, in her best-known book, ‘The Secret Garden’ of ugly spoiled brat Mary Lennox, transported from her luxurious life in India to solitude and a harsher reality in chilly Yorkshire.

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Ellie Dixon lives in deepest rural Devon, England with her husband and two very large Newfoundland dogs. She is passionate about vintage illustrated children's books and loves to restore and edit them for today's kids to rediscover. Visit Kids of Character", a unique range of beautiful illustrated books and fun activities all designed to help parents grow responsible, trustworthy kids of good character, or for even more great books visit Scruffy's Bookshop, Ellie's main website.

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